Audio Bone Ear-Free listening headphones

Cool Yule Rating: 3 stars

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Cool Yule Rating: 3 stars

Price: $189

Product Web site

Description: At first glance, I was creeped out by the name of this product, as it created images of sound waves traveling through my bones causing all sorts of damage. These headphones are designed to let you listen to music without having to put anything inside your ear. The earphones are positioned on the side of your face, right in front of your ears. Sound waves from your music player are converted to vibrations, which are sent via bone conduction into your inner ear, and you get to hear your music while keeping your ear canals open for other sounds. Game Changer Innovations, which makes the headphones, says the vibrations are "heard directly by the inner ear." Because bone conduction does not put stress on the ear drum, the company says this form of listening to music with headphones is safer.

Who would use headphones like this? Game Changer aims these at runners, cyclists and outdoor workers – basically, anyone who wants to hear things around them but still listen to music.

After trying the headphones for a while, it's not as creepy as I thought. I could definitely hear the music through the vibrations, although I needed to turn up the volume on my Ipod a bit in order to hear music the way I'm used to. The headphones seem a bit pricey, but if you really need headphones that don't go in your ear, these work as advertised.

The headphones are waterproof, also, but that would likely mean you'd need a waterproof MP3 player case, too.

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